Explaining Extreme Events of 2012 from a Climate Perspective

September 5, 2013. Explaining Extreme Events of 2012 from a Climate Perspective. The Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society released a report investigating the causes of 12 extreme weather and climate events that occurred on five continents and in the Arctic during 2012, including Hurricane Sandy. While “the effects of natural fluctuations of weather and climate on the evolution of many of the extreme events played key roles,” approximately half of the analyses found evidence that anthropogenic climate change also contributed to the extreme event. Hurricane Sandy was the product of many contributing factors, which makes it “one of the most difficult extreme events of 2012 to fully explain.” Nonetheless, the analysis concluded that a rising sea level will result in an increased frequency of Sandy-level inundation events from storms with lower intensity and storm surge than Sandy.